The setting is London during WWII and the star of the show is one Freddie Troy, the younger son in a wealthy Russian immigrant family. However, Freddie does not want to enter the family’s newspaper business. He becomes a copper. The novel opens with a group of boys finding a hand in the rubble of the Blitz-torn East End. Where it might be all too easy to assume that this is a victim of the bombing, Freddie’s sharp eye and intellect lead him to suggest otherwise. Forensic pathologist Kolankiewicz, Freddie’s partner in investigations and sometimes off the record personal doctor, backs him up. And so begins an investigation that is satisfyingly complex, going to places you’d never have imagined.

Lawton creates a strongly believable period setting and wonderfully rich characters that traverse all walks of life and ages, from members of the aristocracy to snotty nosed boys bunking off school to American (and British) femme fatales. There is plenty of eccentricity on hand, often from the Troy family alone, with Kolankiewicz a truly unforgettable creation. Lawton also manages to throw in Chelsea allotments and pig farming, with Freddie being a pig fan long before George Clooney. And the prose is tight - there is nothing superfluous here - so every word will contribute to making the last hours on planet earth enjoyable.